Short Stories. Photos and pictures. Poems.

North Rim

Grand Canyon is familiar to us from our trip a couple of years ago. But then only the easier reachable South Rim, the more touristy one. This time we decided to add the quieter yet as impressive North Rim into the itinerary. We were warned: it might snow still till mid June. And it did! It rained, it snowed, it hailed, and it was raining sleet…you get the picture. We drove there anyways.

The roads were foggy and curvy. The first look on the first stop was invisible. Foggy, we were in the clouds! We moved to Point Imperial (2,683 meters) next, maybe it will clear up, so we decided to wait. A few years younger couple stopped on the same ledge. She asked me to take their picture, which I gladly did. Nothing else to do but break into a conversation. They were from Arkansas. He had decided to retire early. They had two adult girls. And the conversation flowed freely. He had a story to tell. Many years ago he was selected for Wheel of Fortune TV game. His story telling was so animated that it was fun to follow and we broke into laugh several times. The surreal feeling of meeting Pat and Vanna as actual real human beings was great. The game went smoothly. He won a trip to Hawaii, a condo for the entire family for ten days, and they were wined and dined on the TV show’s expense. Marvelous trip, they said. However they did not tell their friends about it but instead arranged a picnic in the close park and set a TV screen in there when the show aired. As the show started, the guests were flabbergasted and totally surprised! On the last round of the game, the lady before him was on the wheel and got to try to find the solution. He said his face lit up and he a had the most mug face ever when he realized, he knew the answer to the puzzle! He sucked his lungs full of air and was ready to burst. “Hit bankrupt”, he was praying, and sure enough, the lady lost her turn! He made the face again for us and we almost died laughing! He won the game! Well, he missed the Wheel’s final spin after that but reaped a good amount of money and the Hawaii trip. We were standing in the rain without paying attention to it and were entertained by his story. Soaking wet.

Next stop, Cape Royal. Poor visibility. More rain. The fog let go for a second, we saw a tip of a rock, some canyon, but that’s about that. To the next panorama point, Bright Angel Rock and the Grand Canyon Lodge. Angel Point was reachable from the Lodge’s parking lot. Not too lucky there either, first. We peeked into the lodge, Teddy Roosevelt had been here too. Way before us. Hubby had tried to get reservations there already in December for this trip planned for May, but it was solidly booked. The clouds were rising and sun peaked in for few minutes.